Day 3 – Manzanita, OR to Beaver, OR

Miles – 38

Ave Riding Speed – 12.5 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 5

Weather – Cloudy/Sunny and 57

Kim and I were up at 7am.  I cooked up the remaining eggs and hotdogs, scrambled style, with a side of toast for breakfast and Kim made ham, salami and cheese sandwiches for the day.  Before leaving I tested Kim’s bike out to see if I could get her front gear into the lowest position.  That failed so we’ll need to find a bike shop for a little adjustment.  After a shower, packing and loading up our 18lbs lighter gear we departed from the Sunset Surf Motel. 

Our motel was right on the ocean so we could watch the waves and the weather come in.  We enjoyed the adults, children and dogs walking the wide-open beach when the tide was out.  Kites flying, dogs chasing balls and little kids picking up pieces of driftwood like a newly found treasure.

We had initially set out for Tillamook as that was the only place within riding distance for camping and a confirmed reservation.  The Hwy 101 traffic pretty busy all day.  We met a father and son team from Seattle riding our direction, passed us at one point and learned that the newly college graduate son was headed for Southern California and the dad was riding with him for the first ten days. 

When we arrived in Tillamook we pulled over to the Five Rivers Coffee Shop and checked our phones.  I had a voicemail from Katie at Camper Cove in Beaver, OR.  She was responding to my message I had left her last night about camping there.  She said to come on in and she will make sure we have a spot.  So, we adjusted our day and set out for the additional thirteen miles.  When we were on the South end of Tillamook we pulled over for one of our sandwiches we had made earlier in the day.  As we sat on the parking lot curb an older gentleman pulled up on his bicycle and asked where we were heading. We joyfully gave him our story and information about our fundraising effort. Gary proceeded to tell us that his wife Tammy is recently diagnosed with breast cancer and currently going through chemo and in about a week she will have a mastectomy followed up with radiation. Gary said we could mention their names in our blog and that they would take all the prayer and support they can get. As Gary rode away Kim said, “we were meant to have passed up our initial camp site and move on to Camper Cove so we could meet Gary.”    

Upon arriving at Camper Cove, through an increasingly sketchy Hwy 101, we met Katie and Melissa at the front desk and they couldn’t have been more friendly.  We chatted about Kim’s story and they shared theirs. We setup our tent for our first night of camping as close to the bathrooms as we could.  After we setup camp we walked over to the Bear Creek Artichoke café, gift shop and garden center, in time to place an order before they closed.  We ordered sandwiches and split a small salad, takeout style, while sitting outside in their garden area.  The food tasted good and the managers were very friendly, cheery and giving!

Once I get this blog posted we’ll be bundled up for a cool night forecast in the lower forties.